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Answers for homeless man in viral Facebook post

After a woman in Arizona posted about her “homeless friend” Shawn - who believed he had ties to Springfield, Mo. - the message was shared more than 320,000 times. In the past week, the woman has released new details about his background.(Photo: Trisha Hipps El-Sharkawy)

A few details have finally emerged about a mentally challenged homeless man found in Arizona who believes he has ties to Springfield.

The man originally identified only as "Sean" in a Feb. 19 Facebook post — shared more than 320,000 times — is actually named Shawn. His last name is known to authorities but has not been released.

Trisha Hipps El-Sharkawy of Phoenix posted three photos of "my homeless friend, Sean" on Facebook, saying he had boarded a Greyhound bus years ago to visit someone, got on the wrong bus at a stop, and has "been lost ever since."

He said the trip took him to Springfield, Missouri, but he couldn't recall why.

"We finally have some answers, but the social worker was limited in what she was allowed to share with us," wrote El-Sharkawy, who has helped Shawn with food, blankets and clothes for years. "Prompted by the outpouring of concern, the Phoenix Police Department fingerprinted Shawn. It was discovered that Shawn's family lives in Buffalo, New York."

El-Sharkawy said the family never filed a missing persons report and do not want to "share information about their family or Shawn." That limits what she was able to find out from police.

"They said they have known where Shawn is for a while now and did not abandon him," she wrote in a post on April 24. "Shawn turned down an offer to be taken back to them."

She said he has been "wandering the streets on his own" for at least 20 years. "The only information shared was that his case was a very sad one," she wrote.

El-Sharkawy, who posted recent photos of Shawn along with the post, is frequently asked for updates about him from Facebook users all over the country who shared the original post. The initial goal was to identify the man so he could be reunited with his family.

"Our homeless friend Shawn has touched the hearts of so many," she wrote. "Concern for him has brought him into our thoughts and prayers."

Even though he remains homeless, there is now hope his situation will improve.

El-Sharkawy said that, based on Shawn's "disabilities," the City of Phoenix is offering the man housing and benefits. She praised Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, and his staff, for reaching out to help.

"But, he doesn't yet trust them enough to let them help him," she wrote. "A special crisis team has been assigned to visit, see what he needs and slowly build trust."

In late April, El-Sharkawy saw Shawn on his scooter and stopped to ask if he needed something to eat or drink. "In his usual humble way, he was concerned it was too expensive," she wrote.

She asked Shawn, at that visit, what he wanted to be when he grew up. He reportedly told her that he aspired to be a professional tennis player because he tried it twice as a little kid.

El-Sharkawy has tried to explain to Shawn that thousands of people across the U.S. know about his story through Facebook and news reports. She hopes he will eventually be able to help tell his own story.

She explained: "I will try to make Shawn his own Facebook page and show him how to open it at the library."